Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
By signing up, you certify that you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
Privacy Policy.

Charges dropped against Maryland parent who spoke against Common Core standards

The Howard County father
whose arrest became a viral web video and a cause celebre of
conservative talk radio won't be prosecuted for disrupting a meeting on
state education standards.

The Baltimore County state's attorney's
office dropped assault charges Monday against Robert Small, who had
been led out of the Thursday night meeting in Towson by an off-duty
police officer. Small interrupted education officials, complaining that
new standards were aimed at sending children to community colleges.

"It
was clear that Mr. Small violated the rules of the meeting and
disrupted the meeting. It was also clear that the officer acted
appropriately and did have probable cause to make an arrest on both
charges," the state's attorney's office said in a statement. "In the
interest of justice, further prosecution will not accomplish anything
more. Therefore, the charges have been dismissed."

Small, 46, has been discussed
on Glenn Beck's radio show. Sean Hannity has reached out to him. Two
lawyers offered to take his case for free, and people from across the
country have sent emails offering help, while others have just written
to praise him for standing up at the meeting. Maryland politicians have
jumped in to defend Small and discredit the handling of the public
meeting.

A relative unknown until Friday, Small's case spread over
social media. A YouTube video of him being escorted out of the room by
the police officer has been viewed more than 500,000 times.

In
fact, it seemed that the only one not talking about it is Small. He gave
a brief interview to The Baltimore Sun on Friday but has declined to
comment since.

The Ellicott City father of two interrupted a
public forum given by the Maryland State Department of Education on
Thursday night at the Ridge Ruxton School on Charles Street in Towson.
After a lengthy presentation by officials, members of the public were
asked to submit their questions in writing. Baltimore County School
Superintendent Dallas Dance then scanned the pile of questions and
picked out ones to be read aloud.

A panel, which included state schools Superintendent Lillian Lowery, then answered the questions.

But
Small wasn't satisfied that his question would be answered so he stood
and interrupted Dance. He said he believed the new standards would lower
expectations for students and that teaching would be aimed at getting
students to community colleges rather than Harvard.

After being
told, "Let's go," by an officer, Small continued to talk to the parents,
saying, "Don't sit there like cattle." A Baltimore County police
officer, who was working as a security guard, escorted Small out of the
room, arrested him and charged him with assaulting a police officer and
disturbing a school activity.

In an interview Friday morning,
Small did not criticize the police actions but said he had a First
Amendment right to speak. Small graduated from Baltimore County public
schools, went on to a community college and got his four-year degree
from the University of Maryland, College Park.

He said he is employed by the federal government and his two children attend Howard County public schools.

Many
conservatives oppose the implementation of the new Common Core
standards on the grounds that it is a federal government intrusion into
local school control. Beck and others have talked about the new
standards for months.

On his Monday morning radio program, Beck
said Small's arrest was "a warning sign to the American people. I
believe my job is to tell you the signposts. My job is to tell you how
far down this road are you and how much farther do you have to go. Not
much."

State Del. Patrick L. McDonough characterized as
"outrageous" the failure of education officials to give Small a chance
to speak. The Baltimore County Republican plans to introduce legislation
that would put a moratorium on the implementation of the Common Core
standards in the county's schools. Del. Ron George, a Republican
candidate for governor, said Monday he wants address the common core
standards in the next General Assembly session.

"I think education is best handled at the local community level," McDonough said.

Maryland
was one of 45 states and the District of Columbia to adopt the Common
Core standards, which were written collectively by the National
Governors Association and the association of chief state school
officers. The Common Core is not a federal requirement, but the Obama
administration offered financial incentives to states that implemented
the standards.

The state has trained 7,000 teachers for three
summers in a row in the standards, and local school systems have been
writing their own curriculum or lesson plans that align with the new
standards.

All school systems in Maryland were required to begin teaching to the standards this school year.

Harford
County Executive David R. Craig, a Republican candidate for governor,
said Monday that he does not support the Common Core because he believes
what is taught should be left up to classroom teachers. The former
teacher and administrator said he believes the new standards are no
better than what was required by the state under No Child Left Behind
and that he is opposed to the amount of testing that would be required.

He
also expressed concern about the way Thursday night's meeting was
handled by education officials. In his many years of overseeing public
meetings as a Harford County official, he said, he never had to have
someone arrested, even when members of the public were upset and angry.
"We always respect the people. ... Why not let them get up and speak and
give their concerns?" he said.

Baltimore County schools spokesman
Mychael Dickerson said the system had gotten dozens of comments from
the public, either by phone or email.

Officials did not answer
questions about whether they believed Small should have been arrested
for his behavior at the meeting. But they did send out an email to
parents explaining how their children's education would change this year
and issued a brief statement to reporters.

"The meeting helped us
realize that we must do a better job of communicating what the Common
Core is and what it is not," the statement said. "We have to ensure that
our parents and community members understand that the Common Core
allows us to implement our own curriculum, written by us, for us."

The
Baltimore County Police Department, which had been criticized for its
handling of the arrest, issued a statement saying that while the
department "strongly supports a citizen's right to exercise his or her
First Amendment rights, it also recognizes that meeting organizers have
the right to establish rules of order."

Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson said in the statement that he will review the incident.

There was a post in this group about a Common Core worksheet, and they had pimp in it, and some other questionable content. It was a 4th grade assignment. I have some doubts about the common sense of the teachers, and the curriculum to put Po Pimp on a worksheet. Before someone comes in here, and says it was the name of a rap song,.....They could of used another song by the rapper. Some of this stuff is ridiculous.

Quoting candlegal:

I wonder how many people will still be saying what a great thing common core is 10 years from now.

I think there is MORE to this....the guy and the arrest is being reported by a Conservative group and something tells me it is slanted in favor of him. My first thought is "Does this guy have a college degree in EDUCATION?". I would think he would be more credible if he did.

Did he cause a disruption that wasn't appropriate, not just behaving as a parent who was supposedly concerned with Common Core?

Are we reading this thread because the writer of the thread thinks that Public Schools are "Government Run Indoctrination Camps" ?

I just have a lot of questions about this whole issue. And I bet I won't get answers.

Quoting krysstizzle:

Free speech? There are processes for meetings like this, for a good reason. If everyone behaved as this man did, talking when they felt like it while ignoring everyone else, absolutely nothing would ever get done. It was be a melee of ignorant shouting louder and louder.

Watch the video. There are people yelling to let the man ask his question, and a woman stands up against the security guard who is pushing the guy around. It looks pretty straight forward to me.

What does it matter if his degree is in education, or if he even has a degree at all? Since when do you need teaching credentials to be concerned about your Childs education?

Quoting lga1965:

I think there is MORE to this....the guy and the arrest is being reported by a Conservative group and something tells me it is slanted in favor of him. My first thought is "Does this guy have a college degree in EDUCATION?". I would think he would be more credible if he did.

Did he cause a disruption that wasn't appropriate, not just behaving as a parent who was supposedly concerned with Common Core?

Are we reading this thread because the writer of the thread thinks that Public Schools are "Government Run Indoctrination Camps" ?

I just have a lot of questions about this whole issue. And I bet I won't get answers.

Quoting krysstizzle:

Free speech? There are processes for meetings like this, for a good reason. If everyone behaved as this man did, talking when they felt like it while ignoring everyone else, absolutely nothing would ever get done. It was be a melee of ignorant shouting louder and louder.

Why does he feel he KNOWS anything substantial about Common Core? That is why I mentioned a degree. I am amazed at the know-nothing people who complain about Public Schools , the Curriculum, and teachers when they have no real knowledge. Cetainly I know that No Child Left Behind devised about 10 years ago was a huge mistake (and our county schools rejected it years ago, opted out ). But Common Core is an effort to return to the standard, basic education policies and curriculum of the past as far as we know. If there are questions, ask your local school officials.

Until the ordinary citizen/parent really KNOWS what they are talking about, they should just meet quietly , one on one,with school heads,principals, teachers and ask questions and discuss issues in a civilized way. Yelling at meetings does nothing except make the person who is yelling look like a jerk.

Quoting SewingMamaLele:

Watch the video. There are people yelling to let the man ask his question, and a woman stands up against the security guard who is pushing the guy around. It looks pretty straight forward to me.

What does it matter if his degree is in education, or if he even has a degree at all? Since when do you need teaching credentials to be concerned about your Childs education?

Quoting lga1965:

I think there is MORE to this....the guy and the arrest is being reported by a Conservative group and something tells me it is slanted in favor of him. My first thought is "Does this guy have a college degree in EDUCATION?". I would think he would be more credible if he did.

Did he cause a disruption that wasn't appropriate, not just behaving as a parent who was supposedly concerned with Common Core?

Are we reading this thread because the writer of the thread thinks that Public Schools are "Government Run Indoctrination Camps" ?

I just have a lot of questions about this whole issue. And I bet I won't get answers.

Quoting krysstizzle:

Free speech? There are processes for meetings like this, for a good reason. If everyone behaved as this man did, talking when they felt like it while ignoring everyone else, absolutely nothing would ever get done. It was be a melee of ignorant shouting louder and louder.

Don't even bother, she knows all. She refuses to believe it because she said it from a conservative website. Tells me she didn't go to it. It was from the local news station where it all happened.

Quoting SewingMamaLele:

Watch the video. There are people yelling to let the man ask his question, and a woman stands up against the security guard who is pushing the guy around. It looks pretty straight forward to me.

What does it matter if his degree is in education, or if he even has a degree at all? Since when do you need teaching credentials to be concerned about your Childs education?

Quoting lga1965:

I think there is MORE to this....the guy and the arrest is being reported by a Conservative group and something tells me it is slanted in favor of him. My first thought is "Does this guy have a college degree in EDUCATION?". I would think he would be more credible if he did.

Did he cause a disruption that wasn't appropriate, not just behaving as a parent who was supposedly concerned with Common Core?

Are we reading this thread because the writer of the thread thinks that Public Schools are "Government Run Indoctrination Camps" ?

I just have a lot of questions about this whole issue. And I bet I won't get answers.

Quoting krysstizzle:

Free speech? There are processes for meetings like this, for a good reason. If everyone behaved as this man did, talking when they felt like it while ignoring everyone else, absolutely nothing would ever get done. It was be a melee of ignorant shouting louder and louder.

You need a degree in education to read and understand the standards? I don't think so.

This man wasn't yelling, he was asking a question. A question the other parents at the meeting cheered for and wanted to hear the answer to. I would say he handled himself well considering he was being physically assaulted by the security guy.

This meeting was about common core, he was asking a question about common core... That seems the appropriate place. He shouldn't need to meet "quietly one on one "when they put together this meeting to discuss the topic.

Quoting lga1965:

Why does he feel he KNOWS anything substantial about Common Core? That is why I mentioned a degree. I am amazed at the know-nothing people who complain about Public Schools , the Curriculum, and teachers when they have no real knowledge. Cetainly I know that No Child Left Behind devised about 10 years ago was a huge mistake (and our county schools rejected it years ago, opted out ). But Common Core is an effort to return to the standard, basic education policies and curriculum of the past as far as we know. If there are questions, ask your local school officials.

Until the ordinary citizen/parent really KNOWS what they are talking about, they should just meet quietly , one on one,with school heads,principals, teachers and ask questions and discuss issues in a civilized way. Yelling at meetings does nothing except make the person who is yelling look like a jerk.

Quoting SewingMamaLele:

Watch the video. There are people yelling to let the man ask his question, and a woman stands up against the security guard who is pushing the guy around. It looks pretty straight forward to me.

What does it matter if his degree is in education, or if he even has a degree at all? Since when do you need teaching credentials to be concerned about your Childs education?

Quoting lga1965:

I think there is MORE to this....the guy and the arrest is being reported by a Conservative group and something tells me it is slanted in favor of him. My first thought is "Does this guy have a college degree in EDUCATION?". I would think he would be more credible if he did.

Did he cause a disruption that wasn't appropriate, not just behaving as a parent who was supposedly concerned with Common Core?

Are we reading this thread because the writer of the thread thinks that Public Schools are "Government Run Indoctrination Camps" ?

I just have a lot of questions about this whole issue. And I bet I won't get answers.

Quoting krysstizzle:

Free speech? There are processes for meetings like this, for a good reason. If everyone behaved as this man did, talking when they felt like it while ignoring everyone else, absolutely nothing would ever get done. It was be a melee of ignorant shouting louder and louder.

Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
By signing up, you certify that you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
Privacy Policy.